Image of Conan O'Brien as host of "Late Night" taken from http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&biw=1280&bih=592&tbm=isch&tbnid=IY8PkJ72ukELqM:&imgrefurl=http://weblogs.variety.com/on_the_air/conan_obrien/&docid=T0Hx7k9eFNjkKM&imgurl=http://weblogs.variety.com/.a/6a00d8341bfc7553ef011168914c66970c-800wi&w=800&h=532&ei=1Nm6Tp33CMXI2wWA4cGkBw&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=219&sig=105171626053390580017&page=1&tbnh=120&tbnw=159&start=0&ndsp=23&ved=1t:429,r:13,s:0&tx=103&ty=112And
And that was what made "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" so wonderful. Our talk-show host set up an environment in which everyone, including him and his guests, could have a good amount of fun. In addition, all the segments played out in a honest manner and no segment appeared staged at all. No matter how ridiculous a segment became, everyone was having a great time. In other words, Conan O'Brien made sure that every episode featured plenty of laughter and memories. And the result would always be the same: everyone was always cheering at the end of the show. O'Brien had clearly accomplished his goal of guaranteeing a great and memorable show.
Image of Conan O'Brien as host of "The Tonight Show" taken from http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&biw=1280&bih=592&tbm=isch&tbnid=tPx9QunbLigPTM:&imgrefurl=http://videogum.com/72101/the_tonight_show_with_conan_ob/tv/late-night/&docid=X0wJyPioRXDqXM&imgurl=http://videogum.com/img/thumbnails/photos/conan_tonight_show_desk.jpg&w=480&h=270&ei=Ktq6TsK_LKGA2AWsg8GpBw&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=266&sig=105171626053390580017&page=2&tbnh=112&tbnw=153&start=21&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:21&tx=93&ty=29
And when he took over as host of "The Tonight Show" in summer 2009, Conan O' Brien tried his best to keep the audience happy no matter what. Unfortunately, since he was now on a hour earlier, our host knew that he had to aim his comedy to a slightly older audience; seeing as he had to now cater to audiences who tuned in to see Former Host Jay Leno every night. Andy Richter, who served as O'Brien's sidekick on "Late Night" from 1993-2000, returned to his old position; and he also became the show's announcer as well. While O'Brien still went out of his way to make the audience laugh, the ratings were unfortunately not in his favor. It seemed as if his brand of comedy was not a good match for those who were watching at home. Nevertheless, O'Brien always had a happy face on; and brought forward intriguing new segments; such as "Twitter Tracker" (which featured an over-excited narrator proclaiming comedically exaggerated celebrity tweets), a bit where Andy Richter would test out a fake product, and also offering fake public service announcements. Nevertheless, Conan O'Brien's anchoring of "The Tonight Show" was eventually put to an end by NBC; and on January 22, 2010, O'Brien hosted the show for the final time; closing with a powerful rendidtion of Lynyrd Skynyrd's classic rock song Bird" which featured guest musicians such as Billy Gibson and Beck as well as the talk-show host's old friend Will Ferrell; who performed vocals. Conan O'Brien was also featured in the performance; playing guitar with the all-star band as the show eventually faded out. However, even though NBC won the battle, Conan O'Brien did win the war; as during the summer of 2010, TBS announced that he would be hosting a brand new talk-show-- which would air Monday through Thursdays at 11:00pm. And on November 2, 2010, O'Brien was back on televisions and it seemed that everything was back to normal. Or was it so?
When O'Brien's new show, aptly named "Conan," premiered on TBS, I was of course happy to have him back on my television. His new studio looked great and Andy Richter once again served as the show's announcer and O'Brien's sidekick. And O'Brien would still be welcoming guest to appear on his show. The main difference was that Max Weinberg was no longer with the musical ensemble; which was now referred to as "The Basic Cable Band." Nevertheless, I was excited to have my favorite talk-show host back and hopefully delighting the masses.
However, it turned out that my excitement in having O'Brien back was blinding me from a dark truth. As the months flew by, I began to slowly take notice that the overall humor being supplied by O'Brien was completely different. While Conan O'Brien's previous comedy appeared more natural and genuine, the material that was being presented lacked the sincerity his previous two series embodied. For TBS series, O'Brien introduced an array of new segments that, while interesting at first, resulted in appearing completely staged in their execution. For instance, a comedy segment that is broadcast every Monday called "Fan Corrections" got on my nerves after a couple of months. For this bit, O'Brien would present footage of a fan pointing out an error that the red-headed talk-show host made at some point during a specific episode. After the footage is played, O'Brien pokes fun at the observer and goes on to claim that he was not in the wrong at all. He takes his argument further by presenting exaggerated pre-recorded material that depics supposed evidence that is meant to back-up his statement. While the concept of the routine was intriguing at first, I eventually grew more-than-tired of O'Brien's embellished attempts to prove himself right; and it got to the point where I no longer was excited about watching a new episode on a Monday night; seeing as this bit was going to be featured. Another reoccurring segment that becmae old was a bit entitled “Conan’s Video Blog;” in which the redheaded talk-show host tries to get younger viewers by doing a parody of YouTube videos featuring bored teenagers. Throughout the routine, O'Brien speaks in a monotone manner and attempts to complain about various topics. The sketch usually ends with Andy Richter barging into frame to make fun of O'Brien. Our host then proceeds to yell at him and the segment then ends in disarray. Originally funny at first, I now groan whenever O'Brien even mentions the comedy segment's name. Thus, its bits like these that prove to me that Conan O'Brien's TBS series is truly relying on more compulsory humor. But even that doesn't stock up against my biggest concern regarding O'Brien's new series.
While the forced humor is a major problem, my primary grip would be that Conan O'Brien is hardly giving an earnest performance at all as the show's host. When he hosted his previous two series, you could tell that he was doing his best job possible to make his show enjoyable. And even when his stay as host of "The Tonight Show" was facing the threat of cancellation, O'Brien still put his best foot forward and brought the laughter. However, when you observe him host his TBS series, you can tell that his delivery isn't at all genuine at all; it's almost as if he's giving no effort at all. His comic delivery is practicaly devoid of passion and his posture more-than-frequently appears stiff at certain points; particularly during the monologue and his comedy segments. Furthermore, he doesn't seem to contain the spark of unadulterated enthusiasm he once had when hosting his previous series. Moreover, he doesn't seem to mimic celebrities' voices and methods of walking during his monologue as much as he did when hosting both "Late Night" and "The Tonight Show." In fact, he seems to be rushing his opening speech by telling a joke and then quickly going into another one. This doesn't allow the audience enough time to fully enjoy the punchline. This is very disappointing; seeing as his opening monologue was always one of the most enjoyable portions of his earlier series.
What's more, Conan O'Brien seems to be rushing most of his guest interviews as well. I remember when he used to spend time discussing a single story as well as engage in more genuine comedic interplay for a good amount of time. with his guests; particularly his first one. Now what I see is that O'Bren tries to pack as many questions into his interviews as possible; thus not allowing a guest to spend alot of time on a subject the audience might want to hear more about. Fortunately, however, O'Brien continues the practice of giving his first guest additional time by giving them an extra segment. Nevertheless, while the guests get the opportunity to be funny, most of the interviews appear staged and not as intimate the interview segments are just not as impactful as those featured throughout O'Brien's two original series.
Henceforth, it just seems to me that Conan O'Brien is, for the most part, phoning in most of his performance as the host of his new series. I hardly see the honest keeness O'Brien once possessed when he emceed his previous programs on NBC. So much on the show appears staged; including his exchanges with sidekick Andy Richter, which now come off as simply being annoying and not at all genuine.It gets to the point where the celebrity guests are the only ones who can be counted on to not only be amusing but also put some life into the show. It should also be mentioned that the guests seem to be the primary reason I watch the program.
Although, in all honesty, there have been instances that have given me hope that maybe Conan O'Brien's TBS series will get better. Last week, O'Brien took his show to NBC, aka his old stomping ground, for a set of four special shows. All the shows were filmed at The Beacon Theater; which actually helped establish a very intimate atmosphere due to the luxurious design of the building. The stage was even closer to the audience than the set designated for his TBS series; thus further establishing the warm ambiance. And throughout the week, O'Brien displayed more vigor than he had in the past several months; thus giving his show newfound life. In addition, I feel that O'Brien even was able to make the most out of his celebrity guests for the week; especially when Jimmy Fallon, who O'Brien appointed to take the reigns of his old "Late Night" series before he briefly took over hosting "The Tonight Show," stopped by on October 31 for an exciting interview. The week of shows was successfully capped off when O'Brien officiated a same-sex marriage ceremony for a member of his staff. All the episodes were alot of fun and it was wonderful to see O'Brien bestow a completely hilarious and true performance.
So who knows? Maybe there is hope that Conan O'Brien's TBS series can successfully recapture the glory of "Late Night" as well as the fun that I feel also embodied his incarnation of "The Tonight Show." But no matter what, perhaps we need to give O'Brien some more time to successfully bring back the magic that embodied his original talk-show. After all, it took him significant time to gain the respect of people everywhere when "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" first pfirst premiered. So maybe he just needs more time to get his new show going. However, if O'Brien continues to give a less-than-genuine performance, I fear his time might officially run out.
E-mail me at thatsnatertainment@gmx.com
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